MARCH 22, 1948
PLAYOFF MATCHUPS SET
Chicago vs New York While Boston Plays Toronto
It went down to the final day of the regular season to determine the final playoff participant, but the matchups are set for the Challenge Cup semi-finals. It has long been known that the Chicago Packers and Boston Bees would finish first and second with the Packers ending up with an 11-point cushion on second place Boston. The Bees, riddled by injury of late, were only 4 points ahead of third place Toronto but the margin was 8 points entering the final weekend when the Dukes dashed Detroit's playoff hopes with a sweep in a weekend home-and-home series with the Motors.
Detroit was in the running until the final day when the Motors could have claimed fourth place with a Sunday victory at home over Toronto after the Shamrocks were beaten by Chicago but the Motors lost and ended up 1 point back of the Shamrocks for the final playoff berth. Montreal was also a point back and officially 5th as they won the season series with the Motors, who finish last for the first time since 1936-37. For the Valiants it marks the second straight season when a terrible second half cost the club a playoff spot.
The Packers have never won a Challenge Cup but have to be the favourites even with defensemen Ian Groening and Ted Stevens as well as depth winger Derek Gubb all likely to miss at least the first round. Assuming the Boston Bees can get past Toronto they will have their work cut out for them in the finals. The Bees will be without front-line winger Tommy Hart and solid centerman Robert Walker for the entire playoff. Veteran defenseman Willis Beane will likely miss the entire semi-final series. The Dukes have some injuries of their own to contend with.
TWIFB PREDICTIONS
Chicago Packers over New York Shamrocks in 5 games
Boston Bees over Toronto Dukes in 6 games
Challenge Cup final will be a reverse of last season with Chicago prevailing over Boston in 6 games.
Code:
FINAL NAHC Standings
TEAM GP W L T PTS GF GA
Chicago 60 34 20 6 74 216 156
Boston 60 27 24 9 63 194 173
Toronto 60 28 28 4 60 173 184
New York 60 25 30 5 55 189 191
Montreal 60 24 30 6 54 171 195
Detroit 60 24 30 6 54 166 210
FINAL SCORING LEADERS
NAME GP G A PTS
T Burns, Chi 56 47 28 75
Cabbell, NY 59 40 21 61
Albers, NY 60 20 39 59
W Burns, Chi 58 14 43 57
Mahoney, Chi 46 18 35 53
Chandler, Bos 52 26 26 52
Morey, Bos 53 22 28 50
Hart, Bos 55 24 25 49
Gregg, NY 54 23 26 49
Sauer, Tor 52 20 29 49
Pollack, Tor 54 26 22 48
Simpson, Bos 59 19 29 48
Gron, Bos 52 14 33 47
Skinner, Mon 55 24 22 46
Carlson, Tor 57 17 28 47
FINAL GOALIE LEADERS
NAME GP W L T ShO GAA
Hanson, Chi 53 27 20 6 3 2.61
Brockers, Bos 37 16 14 7 2 2.76
Broadway, Tor 51 22 23 3 2 2.94
Tremblay, NY 46 20 20 4 4 2.94
James, Bos 23 11 10 2 1 2.96
Touhey, Mon 51 22 26 2 2 3.18
Carter, Det 19 2 10 1 0 3.37
Chasse, Det 48 22 20 5 2 3.47
Sorrell, NY 18 5 10 1 3 3.55
LAST WEEK'S RESULTS
TUESDAY MARCH 16
Boston 5 at 2 New York : The New York Shamrocks missed an opportunity to put some ground between themselves and Montreal and Detroit. The 5-2 loss to Boston means the Valiants and Motors remain just 1 point back of the Shamrocks for fourth place. With a number of key Boston players out with injury rookie Nick Prentiss scored his first two NAHC goals while George Anderson had a goal and 2 assists to pace the Boston attack.
WEDNESDAY MARCH 17
Detroit 6 at 3 Boston : The Motors kept their playoff hopes alive with an inspired 6-3 doubling of the short-staffed Bees. Nick Tardif scored twice for the winners, who outshot the Bees 43-24. It was Detroit's third win in its last four games and keeps them within a point of the New York Shamrocks for fourth place.
New York 4 at 1 Chicago :New York rebounded from yesterday's loss to beat Chicago 4-1 and hang on to fourth place, by a single point over the Detroit Motors. Gil Corbeil scored twice to led the New York attack. Chicago's lone goal came off the stick of Tommy Burns. It was his 47th goal of the season, allowing him to tie Bert Cordier's 1929-30 record for goals in a season.
SATURDAY MARCH 20
Chicago 4 at 2 Montreal : A must-win game for the Valiants ended in disappointment with a 4-2 loss on home ice ending their playoff hopes and being the final crushing blow in a terrible collapse after the Vals were in sight of first place at Christmas. Wes Burns had 2 goals and an assist while Tommy Burns added two helpers for the first place Packers.
Detroit 2 at 5 Toronto : Detroit missed an opportunity to move into fourth place as former Motors coach Jack Barrell got revenge on his own team while clinching third place for the Dukes at the same time. Gordie Broadway had an outstanding game in the Toronto net while Quinton Pollack scored his 26th goal of the season to lead Toronto. The Motors must win tomorrow at home against Detroit and have the Shamrocks tie or lose in their finale against Chicago for Detroit to claim fourth place.
SUNDAY MARCH 21
Montreal 4 at 2 Boston : Montreal finished the season on a positive with a 4-2 win in Boston, ending a stretch of 4 losses in 5 games that cost the Valiants a playoff berth. Rey Sclisizzi and Doug Lynch each had 3 point nights for the Vals. Wilbur Chandler returned to the Boston lineup after missing more than a week with an injury.
Toronto 4 at 0 Detroit : Detroit came up flat in a must-win game, seeing their playoff hopes snuffed out with a 4-0 loss on home ice to the Toronto Dukes. Alex Cameron, Kurt Walz and Dick Zimmerman blew out a scoreless game with 3 second period goals and Trevor Parker added one in the third while Dukes backup goaltender Terry Russell made 23 saves for his first shutout of the season.
Chicago 3 at 1 New York : The Shamrocks fell 3-1 on home ice but still clinched a playoff spot because the Motors lost to Toronto. The New York club will face the Packers in the semi-finals. Marty Mahoney, Mike Van Tol and Jarrett McGlynn scored for Chicago while Adam Greenham, with his first of the season after missing most of the campaign with a fractured hip, scored the lone Shamrock goal.
After a rough, of course, only by his standards, month for Tommy Burns, there will not be a new goals scored record in the NAHC. Bert Cordier will be able to hold onto that title, now sharing a 47-goal season with the Packers star center. Entering the final month with 44 goals, Burns scored just three goals in March with just two goals in his last seven games. It was the worst stretch all season for Burns, who average nearly a goal per game in his eighth professional season. Along with the all-time high of 47 goals, Burns recorded 75 points, 14 clear of the Shamrocks Orval Cabbell who posted a 40-goal season of his own.
Burns and the Packers will be facing Cabbell and the Shamrocks, who were the team that Burns got the historic goal against. It was the only Packer goal in a 4-1 loss, and a relatively healthy Packers squad will now look for some revenge in the opening round of the playoffs. The series seems to favor the Packers, who finished 34-20-6 with 74 points -- nearly 20 more then the fourth place Shamrocks. They will be without winger Jeremey MacLean (13, 26, 29), who had an excellent rookie season in Chicago while he deals with a bruised hand. There is optimism he could return if the Packers advance, but there is plenty of offense even with his absence. Wes Burns (14, 43, 57) assisted on a league high 43 goals while Marty Mahoney (18, 35, 53), Leon Seguin (7, 28, 35), Jarrett McGlynn (23, 21, 44), Ed Delarue (15, 16, 31), and Moose Vezina (11, 31, 42) frequently find themselves on the scoresheet with Tommy (47, 28, 75). Dave Rankin (6, 16, 22) is back from injury, giving the Packers another offensive threat, but you can't discount the defense.
Norm Hanson (27-20-3, .911) faced the most shots (1,560) of any goalie this season, and came home with the best GAA (2.61) and save percentage (.911), as the additions of 1st Rounders Jesse Santoro (6, 17, 23) and Mike Van Tol (7, 7, 14) have really strengthened the blue line, supplement incumbents Jerry Finch (6, 16, 22), Pete Moreau (4, 24, 39), and Mo Masters (7, 9, 13). The Packers don't want to take anything for granted, but they seem to be the clear favorite both in the round and for the championship. It would be the first championship for the Packers, who are looking to snap a run of disappointment from Chicago sports teams
BARRELL BOUNCE BACK LEADS DUKES TO PLAYOFFS
Toronto Dukes make it back into the NAHC tournament for the championship by winning their final two games of the season, 5-2 then 4-0 against Detroit. Jack Barrell, in his first season back in Toronto, led the team to a .500 record after the disastrous 1946-47 season when the team finished 13 games under an even record. The team will now face Boston in the semi-final with NY taking on Chicago in the other semi-final matchup. Dukes had a 4-7-1 record against the Bs this season.
Brett had a short talk with Barrell as the team prepares for their post season. Barrell said "The coaching staff is proud of the way the team performed this season but now that is all in the past. Our focus is on the upcoming Boston series, we have to up our game. When you play a team 12 times in the regular season there should be no surprises, shutting down Chandler, Morey has to be top the list. We go into the series probably in the best health, overall, the team has been all season, Boston losing Tommy Hart last week takes 24 goals out of their lineup, but Kauffeldt is good second option on their top line. I believe the series will come down to battle between Gordie Broadway, Tom Brockers. The team that gets the key saves will probably emerge victorious. I gave the team Monday off to recover, we will begin implementing our plan for the Bs on Tuesday stressing defensive play, we need to control the puck. If we have the biscuit they cannot score I expect to see many 2-1 or 3-2 games."
When pressed for details Barrell would not expand saying "Fans should listen to the games in Boston then come to the rink, I am sure they will be entertained, time to go to put the finishing details on the plan."
AROUND THE LEAGUE
- The Detroit Motors are on the clock. Based on a losing head to head record with Montreal, the Motos should claim the first overall pick in the July draft.
- One of a trio of wingers is expected to be the first overall selection. They include Lou Barber, a Tillsonburg, On. native who scored 4 goals and 15 points in 32 games with the HAA's Toledo Tigers. The other two are Carl Loon, who is playing junior hockey in his hometown of Edmonton and Ottawa junior player Davey Mosset. The Motors have given no indication as to which player they may be leaning towards.
- It was an awful sports week for the city of Detroit as not only were the Motors eliminated from the playoffs but Detroit City College's basketball team fell in the opening round of the AIAA tournament and the Detroit Mustangs pro basketball entry has slipped from second to third in the Federal League's West Division and is in danger of missing the playoffs for a second consecutive season.
- It will be interesting to see if Norb Hickey gets a second season as Montreal's coach. Fired in Toronto last year after a dreadful season for the now playoff-bound Dukes, Hickey returned to his hometown to coach the Vals and had the club within 3 points of first place Chicago shortly before Christmas, but since the calendar flipped to 1948 the team went 9-21-3.
- The Valiants General Manager moved quickly to quell any rumours about his coach, stating "He'll be back. It was very frustrating season, and one to be quickly forgotten. We will need to cut down on goals allowed next season."
- No word on whether or not Montreal owner Charles LeClerc feels the same way about Hickey.
- We feel Boston still has enough to get by Toronto in the opening round but without Tommy Hart the Bees have to be considered longshots to lift the Challenge Cup for the third consecutive season.
OTHER HEADLINES THIS WEEK
- Several upsets in the opening round of the AIAA basketball tournament with the biggest being 8th seed Tempe College knocking off top seed Rainier College 52-47 in the West Region.
- The New York Knights continue to be one of the hottest teams of late in pro basketball and are closing in on the Boston Centurions for second place in the American Basketball Conference's East Division.
- Nearly half of the nation's 400,000 soft-coal mine workers laid down their picks in support of John L. Lewis' demand for pensions for the miners.
- Pickets formed at the nation's meat-packing plants as 100,000 employees went on strike despite a last minute effort by President Truman to settle the wage dispute. The nation's meat supply could face a 50% cut due to the walkout.
- In his address on Europe, President Truman asked Congress to pass a temporary draft law as one of three "urgent steps toward securing peace and preventing war." He also called once more for passage of the Marshall Plan and described the situation in Europe as "critical."
Full national sports coverage is available in this week's edition of
THIS WEEK IN FIGMENT BASEBALL.